Short answers, pulled from the story.
Leo Baekeland created the first fully synthetic plastic known as Bakelite in 1907. He mixed phenol and formaldehyde to produce this material which became a turning point from natural substances like gums and shellac.
Thermoplastics do not undergo chemical changes when heated and can be molded repeatedly without losing integrity. Thermosetting polymers retain their shape permanently once solidified and decompose rather than melt upon reheating.
An estimated 9.2 billion metric tons of plastic were produced globally between 1950 and 2017. More than half of that total amount appeared after 2004 with over 400 million metric tons emerging in 2023 alone.
China accounted for 31% of total resin production in 2020 while East Asia dominates global output alongside traditional producers in North America and Europe. Roughly 100 companies including Dow Chemical, LyondellBasell, and ExxonMobil control 90% of all production.
Eight to twelve million tons of plastic enter oceans every year creating debris that consists of fifty to eighty percent plastic in some areas. Scientists identified plasticosis by 2023 as a disease causing scarred digestive tracts in affected birds which impairs digestion growth and survival rates.